Praveen Pamidimukkala Receives All-America Accolades

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Senior Praveen Pamidimukkala capped off his stellar career by being selected to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III Men's Volleyball All-America Second Team. This is his second honor as he was also a Second-Team pick in 2006, which made him the first All-America recipient in the program's history.

Pamidimukkala finished his career as MIT's all-time leader in kills (1,949), aces (151), and solo blocks (69). He ranked second in kills per game (4.48), hitting percentage (.325), digs (868), and total blocks (299) while placing third in block assists (230). Pamidimukkala found spots on the top-10 list for aces per game (0.35) and digs per game (2.00).

The plaudits came after MIT wrapped up its season at the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) Championship Tournament last weekend. The nationally-ranked No. 12 Engineers (25-11) outlasted No. 14 Hunter College, 27-30, 25-30, 30-26, 30-25, 15-11, in the first round before falling to eventual champion and top seed No. 3 Vassar College, 30-27, 30-22, 30-22.

Michael Demyttenaere opened the tournament with an incredible hitting performance, compiling 19 kills and a .593 hitting percentage to go along with three blocks. Pamidimukkala tallied 18 kills, seven digs, and three blocks as Scott Pollom posted 11 blocks and 10 kills. Garrett Winther notched 11 kills on 20-errorless swings for a .550 hitting performance while Ryan Dean tallied 54 assists, six digs, and five blocks. Matthew Ng led the defense with 13 digs as Eugene Jang and Eric Reuland rounded out the back row with 11 and six digs, respectively.

Against Vassar, Pamidimukkala registered 14 kills and six digs as Pollom connected on seven of his 10 hitting attempts and picked up two blocks. Winther and Demyttenaere each added two blocks while Winther totaled six kills. Dean racked up 36 assists and seven digs as Jang and Ng contributed nine and seven digs.

Pamidimukkala earned additional accolades as he was named to the NECVA All-Tournament Team and NECVA All-Conference First Team for the third year in a row. MIT was honored with the NECVA All-Academic Award and recorded the highest GPA in the 39-team conference. Individually, Randolph Li, Steve Ray, Reuland, Dean, Jang, Ng, Pollom, and Philip Rogoz were named to the All-Academic Team. The Engineers' eight recipients bested New England Division foe Newbury College and Metro Division member Yeshiva University which both earned six awards.